Thursday, February 28, 2008

Wildlife keeper loses his job for letting girl pose with tiger in cage

Last Updated: 2:51am GMT 28/02/2008

By Tom Peterkin

A WILDLIFE keeper has lost his job at an animal sanctuary for allowing children to pose for pictures stroking a tiger inside its cage.

The action was taken against Norman Elder, 44, after pictures of a young girl petting the 15-year-old Sumatran tiger called Sonya appeared on the social networking website Bebo.

His website, Wildlife Northern Ireland, had carried a picture showing a young girl bending down and scratching the head of the tiger as Mr Elder looked on. By yesterday the image had been removed.

Mr Elder had been running the Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre on behalf of the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for two years. He also took care of wolves, snakes, lizards and dangerous dogs at the centre.

But he was removed from the facility in Ballymoney, Co Antrim, this week after the charity called in police.

Stephen Philpott, of the USPCA, said he was shocked by pictures of visitors inside the tiger enclosure and said he had no option but to act after it was brought to his attention.

Mr Philpott said: "The premises in question are under the charge of the USPCA and we feel that people were exposed to an unacceptable level of risk because of what happened.

"We decided that we could not let it go on any longer which is why we took the action that we did to regain control of the site." Last night Mr Elder - who is licensed to keep dangerous wild animals - insisted he had done nothing wrong in letting people be photographed with Sonya.

He said: "There is no law against it and at the time I thought that the tiger was behaving well enough for someone to go into the enclosure with her.

"A tiger is a dangerous animal and there are safety issues involved which is why I don't let everyone go in. I don't accept that I have done anything wrong.

"Because she was bred in captivity she is not aggressive and the only danger is if she decides to play because she's so strong.

"She is unusually docile and doesn't get stressed from being in a cage or having contact with humans. She does take to certain people."

Mr Elder has been looking after Sonya - who he considers to be a pet -for two years. She was among a number of wild cats rescued by the USPCA from a house in Omagh. Her enclosure is the former elephant compound of an old safari park.

Later, the USPCA unearthed the bodies of four headless lions on the sanctuary site. The elderly lions were put down in April because no home could be found for them following the closure of the safari park a few years ago.

"Apparently lions' heads fetch big money from taxidermists. They are also used in some traditional African medicines," said a USPCA spokesman. "You have to ask if these animals were disposed of properly."